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Part 1/2 Characters:
Shogo Yahagi
Shogo Yahagi
Voiced in Japanese by: Masato Kubota (Part 1, On Radio, Aoi Garland), Kazuki Yao (Part 2)
Voiced in English by: Vic Mignogna (ADV Films), Bob Bergen (Streamline Pictures), Kerrigan Mahan (International)
Click here to see Shogo in Part II
- Adam and Eve Plot: Eve's interest in Shogo turns out to be in determining whether his love for Yui, and to a lesser extent his concern for his friends, might make them all candidates for repopulating earth after A.D.A.M. destroys the Megazone. To make it more literal, the defence system for Earth is the ADAM System, while the computer system built into the city computer is called EVE, as is the female proxy for humanity in all the installments.
- Burger Fool: Shogo's day job was working at a McDonald's. Although he was mildly embarrassed to meet Yui at the counter, this was when McDonald's was respectable if not trendy in Japan.
- Casting Couch: Shogo isn't above using his Garland to "rescue" her before anything happens.
- Can't Stop the Signal: Subverted in Part I. Shogo's first idea after receiving the Garland is to call into Eve's morning talk show, show the bike off, and hand it over to the TV station. B.D. and the Army override the broadcast and try to capture Shogo. The next plan is to help Tomomi make a movie using the Garland, to get word out that way. Tomomi is killed by a Man In Black just as she finishes editing her film — and Shogo is framed for the murder.
- Contrived Coincidence: Shogo just happens to be close friends with Yui's roommates, Tomomi and Mai, even though he only meets Yui after almost running over her.
- Dwindling Party: The bikers (mostly decoys) are shown being gradually picked off as Shogo approaches Bahamut in Part 2.
- Fanservice: Shogo and Yui's sex scene in Part I serves only to provide eye candy while Shogo delivers a big load of Expo Speak in voiceover. Conversely, their sex scene in Part II is completely gratuitous, just like the violence.
- Gratuitous English: Shogo's "Sex Wax" jacket from Part 2.
- Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: When Shogo first drives off with the Garland, the enemies get a nice tight grouping of bullets on everything to the side of him.
- It's Personal: In Part II, since B.D. framed Shogo for Tomomi's murder.
- Left for Dead: At the end of Part I, B.D. gives Shogo the beating of his life - and doesn't even bother to see if he's alive before he leaves.
- Phlebotinum Rebel: Him and the Garland motorcycle.
- Released to Elsewhere: When Shogo's friend Shinji is killed after showing the Garland, Shogo becomes more suspicious when his friends are told that Shinji suddenly left for training in the United States.
- Took a Level in Badass: Shogo starts out as a hapless twentysomething nobody. Then he gets a superbike that turns into a robot. Then he becomes and outlaw and starts hobnobbing with dangerous lunatics.
Yui Takanaka
Yui Takanaka
Voiced in Japanese by: Maria Kawamura (OVA), Keiko Ohtsuka (On Radio, Aoi Garland)
Voiced in English by: Allison Keith (ADV Films), Barbara Goodson (Streamline Pictures, International)
Click here to see Yui in Part II
Click here to see Yui in Aoi Garland
- Casting Couch: She isn't above resorting to this for the sake of her career.
- Death by Adaptation: Yui gets killed in the Aoi Garland game by an armed Megazone 23 soldier.
- Fanservice: Shogo and Yui's sex scene in Part I serves only to provide eye candy while Shogo delivers a big load of Expo Speak in voiceover. Conversely, their sex scene in Part II is completely gratuitous, just like the violence.
- Important Haircut: Yui gets one, along with trying to Take a Level in Badass, while trying to rekindle her relationship with Shogo in Part II.
Mai Yumekano
Mai Yumekano
Voiced in Japanese by: Mayumi Shō (OVA), Tamari Hinata (Aoi Garland)
Voiced in English by: Sasha Paysinger (ADV Films), Lia Sargent (Streamline Pictures)
Click here to see Mai in Aoi Garland
- Idol Singer: Mai is an aspiring singer and songwriter, who occasionally rehearses during happier times.
- Ojou: She's the daughter of the mayor of Tokyo; after B.D.'s coup and the murder of Tomomi, her father asks her to come back home, driving home how much Yui's life is falling apart.
Tomomi Murashita
Tomomi Murashita
Voiced in Japanese by: Mina Tominaga
Voiced in English by: Hilary Haag (ADV Films), Edie Mirman (Streamline Pictures)
- Amateur Film-Making Plot: Tomomi persuades Shogo to let her use the Garland, and later the abandoned areas of the Megazone, as cheap special effects for a movie she'd make. B.D.'s men in black kill her the moment she finishes editing her film.
- Disposable Woman: Her death becomes a plot starter for Part II.
- Kill the Cutie: In Part I.
Eve Tokimatsuri
Eve Tokimatsuri
Voiced in Japanese by: Kumi Miyasato (Part 1-2), Saki Takaoka (Part 3), iv (Aoi Garland)
Voiced in English by: Monica Rial (ADV Films), Brittany Harlowe (Streamline Pictures) (Part 1), Muriel Fargo (International) (Part 2)
- Adam and Eve Plot: Eve's interest in Shogo turns out to be in determining whether his love for Yui, and to a lesser extent his concern for his friends, might make them all candidates for repopulating earth after A.D.A.M. destroys the Megazone. To make it more literal, the defence system for Earth is the ADAM System, while the computer system built into the city computer is called EVE, as is the female proxy for humanity in all the installments.
- Art Shift
- Retcon: Eve's hair color changed to be exclusively platinum blond in Part III and Aoi Garland, despite the latter two portrayals being set in Parts 1 and 2. This is even retconned within the series when The original Megazone 23's Eve is visited by the real Eve and Eiji, and even they have platinum blond hair!
- Damsel in Distress: Eve is mostly a hostage of the military through the first two installments.
- Evil Diva: Arguably, Eve. Arguably subverted by the real Eve, who is the absent hyperuser for the entire civic computer system.
- Fanservice Pack: Played fairly straight with Eve, except in Part II when she's reprogrammed as a propaganda tool, wearing solely an unflattering military uniform. Every other appearance of Eve, even the real one looks far nicer on the eyes.
- Fountain of Youth: This is taken to a extreme with the real Eve Tokimatsuri, who is found having not aged a single day... in the entire length of the series, which takes place over a thousand years.
- Humanity on Trial: The effective purpose of Eve's talk with Shogo about life, the universe, and everything in Part II.
- Idol Singer: Eve Tokimatsuri is introduced as the favorite pop idol of Tokyo. Even centuries later during Part III, her virtual persona is still at the top of the charts.
- Lampshade Hanging: Some of the members of Orange Amusements talk about Eve's age, joking slightly about how, if there is a real Eve, she'd be as old as the Bishop Won Dai, a centuries-old spiritual leader. She's several centuries OLDER, and is still around the same physical age as Eiji himself!
- Mystical White Hair
- Robot Girl: Implied. Eve is just a normal teenage girl... who went into hypersleep for over a millenia.
- Virtual Celebrity: Turns out to be a program based on the appearance of a child genius who worked on the original Megazone program. This is pivotal when Eve is the only person alive with administrator rights on the civic computer system.
Shinji Nakagawa
Shinji Nakagawa
Voiced in Japanese by: Kōichi Yamadera
Voiced in English by: Illich Guardiola (ADV Films), Dan Woren (Streamline Pictures)
- Badass Biker: One of Shogo's biker buddies, who wanted to show off something extra-special from his day job.
- I'm Dying, Please Take My MacGuffin: Shinji didn't know he was dying when he met with Shogo, but his role basically boils down to this trope.
- Small Role, Big Impact: His reveal of the top-secret bike to Shogo, all the while his death, is what sets B.D. and his men to pursue Shogo after the Garland and eventually his learning about the truth of Bahamut.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: He is killed off in the very first scene he is introduced, apart from being Shogo's friend and introducing him the bike from his job.
B. D.
B. D.
Voiced in Japanese by: Kaneto Shiozawa (OVA), Kotaro Shibata (On Raidio, Aoi Garland)
Voiced in English by: Andy McAvin (ADV Films), Gregory Snegoff (Streamline Pictures), Michael McConnohie (International)
Click here to see B.D. in Part II
- Dystopia Is Hard: B.D.'s arc in Part II, such as it is, is that even after Shogo's defeat in the previous episode, things are falling apart around him despite his best efforts. The war against the Dezalg is hopeless, his backers are plotting against him, and his only hope of finally getting Bahamut under control is the biker punk he left for dead.
- The Heavy: In Part I, B.D. is the face of the militant faction of the Megazone's government that pursues Shogo. He eventually shoots his superiors during the Military Coup and becomes the de facto leader of the new government.
- The Men in Black: B.D. and his minions first operate as this before escalating to using Mini-Mecha in broad daylight.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: B.D.'s goal in taking control of the Megazone's government and the Bahamut computer was to mobilize it against the threat of the Dezalg — and he didn't care who he had to hurt to accomplish that goal. At the end of Part II after A.D.A.M. starts destroying the Megazone, he orders his men to evacuate as many civilians as possible, and makes his peace with Shogo before charging off to a Bolivian Army Ending in the hope that somebody will survive the disaster.
- You Don't Look Like You: In part II, B.D. looks at least ten years younger than his part I self. And is also more buff.
Lightning
Lightning
Voiced in Japanese by: Shigeru Chiba
Voiced in English by: Jason Douglas (ADV Films), Tom Wyner (International)
- Badass Biker: He's the effective second in command of the "Trash" gang, deferring to Shogo's leadership. He also shows his ability to kick ass throughout the second OVA, even in the Garland.
- Shipper on Deck: Lightning goes above and beyond the call of duty trying to help Shogo and Yui reconcile after reuniting them at the start of Part II.
- Smoking Is Cool: Cigarettes are almost as essential as beer for the Trash gang, and Lightning is able to make them look good.
Gutz
Gutz
Voiced in Japanese by: Kōzō Shioya
Voiced in English by: George Manley (ADV Films), Jeff Winkless (International)
- Badass Cape: Wears a cape proudly announcing his leadership of the "suicide squad".
- The Big Guy: Larger than most of the cast, and the leader of the Trash gang's "suicide squad", able to throw police cars around and hold off entire SWAT teams to defend his friends.
Cindy
Cindy
Voiced in Japanese by: Yōko Ogai
Voiced in English by: Tiffany Grant (ADV Films), Melora Harte (International)
- Badass Biker: Lightning's girlfriend in the Trash gang, and as willing to throw down as the rest of the gang. During the final Car Chase scene, she all but literally rides shotgun on Yui's bike, and is the only biker to make it to Eve alongside Yui and Shogo before the other survivors catch up.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Let's face it, any resemblance to Cyndi Lauper in The '80s is completely deliberate.
- Town Girls: Cindy's the leader (and the "neither") in a trio of women in the Trash gang that take Yui under her wing and are the most significant in the story. While Cindy is a perky, outgoing girl, Rena (the Femme) is a more elegant and somber blue-nette, while Dump (the Butch), is a no-nonsense badass Brawn Hilda who is almost the Distaff Counterpart of Gutz, the gang's designated Big Guy.
Lieutenant Shiratori
Lieutenant Shiratori
Voiced in Japanese by: Show Hayami
Voiced in English by: John Gremillion (ADV Films), Gregory Snegoff (International)
- Determinator: Shiratori somehow survives being at ground zero when Dezalg attack drones penetrate the Megazone's interior for long enough to track Shogo to Eve's computer center. Unfortunately for him, he passes away seconds after finally finding his prey.
- Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: When Shiratori is forced to summon a helicopter to take command of the military's final pursuit of Shogo and the Trash bikers, he takes the time he's forced to wait to write a letter for his parents to read if he doesn't survive the mission, apologizing for not being as considerate as he should have been.
- The Heavy: Shiratori becomes the primary opponent of Shogo in Part II, since B.D. has other things to worry about until the Megazone is being overrun.
- Inspector Javert: He doesn't know and doesn't care about what Shogo wants or why he was driven to rebellion; he's just following his orders to capture the youth, no matter what.
- Sergeant Rock: A militaristic leader who is more than willing to punch the teeth out of any of his men who appear to be whining.
Part 3 Characters:
Eiji Takanaka
Eiji Takanaka
Voiced in Japanese by: Takeshi Kusao
Voiced in English by: Jay Hickman (ADV Films), Michael McGhee (Manga UK)
- The Call Knows Where You Live: Subverted with Eiji's interactions with Sion, after he decides to date Ryo by random chance. Completely played straight with Eve's interactions with Eiji AND Sion!
- Took a Level in Badass: Seems to be a rule of thumb with people given that particular Garland, in that Eiji Takanaka defeats the E=X driving it.
Bishop Won Dai
Bishop Won Dai
Voiced in Japanese by: Kouji Nakata, Kazuki Yao
Voiced in English by: Chris Patton (ADV Films), Robert Glenister (Manga UK)
- Fallen Hero: It's strongly implied that he is Shogo.
- Mystical White Hair
Yacob Halm
Yacob Halm
Voiced in Japanese by: Makoto Ataka
Voiced in English by: Illich Guardiola (ADV Films), Adam Matalon (Manga UK)
- Because Destiny Says So: Whatever the System says, he puts full faith into it.
- Humans Are Bastards: He deems the people of Eden no longer fit to live on Earth; his Project Heaven, intent on taking Eden back into space, reflects this.
Ryo Narahara
Ryo Narahara
Voiced in Japanese by: Hiroko Kasahara
Voiced in English by: Jessica Boone
- Ojou Ringlets: Unknown if she's an Ojou, but she sports this hairstyle.
- Shoulders of Doom: She appears to be wearing shoulder pads.
Bud
Sion
